Gabby Agbonlahor makes Aston Villa ‘panic buy’ claim with transfer prediction made
Aston Villa had one of the Premier League’s quietest summer transfer windows, up until a late flurry of business on transfer deadline day.
Villa’s only piece of business ahead of deadline day was the signature of Evann Guessand who joined the club from Nice.
The major noise from the club throughout the window was the potential of their goalkeeper, Emiliano Martinez leaving the club, yet a move never materialised for the 33-year-old.
Unai Emery had become increasingly more frustrated with Villa’s lack of business according to reports, as his side’s window was hampered by profit and sustainability rule (PSR) stipulations.
Aston Villa’s deadline day business doesn’t go down well
Villa’s triple swoop of Victor Lindelof, Jadon Sancho and Harvey Elliott boosted the mood at Villa Park late on deadline day.
However, talkSPORT’s Gabby Agbonlahor wasn’t impressed with one signing: “I look at Sancho, I look at that as maybe a panic buy on the last day of the window. It didn’t work for him at Chelsea.
“No one really wanted to pay the wages that he’s on, but Marcus Rashford came to Aston Villa and did ok, so maybe we’ll see Sancho have a similar kind of impact. Some games top class, some games not looking as interested as he should be,” he continued.
Agbonlahor was more complimentary of Villa’s other two deals though: “Lindelof is good cover, on a free transfer, he’s good cover for [Ezri] Konsa on that right hand side […]
“The one for me though is Harvey Elliott, because Aston Villa were in for [Marco] Asensio, but Asensio is 29, Elliott is 22. Youth. He ripped it up for England under-21s in the summer, he was the star player for England.
“Last season only 18 appearances in the Premier League, five appearances in the Champions League [for Elliott], at 22 you need to be playing every week […] and Aston Villa are crying out for a player who can play off that right hand side or as a number 10. He will play a lot of football this season at Aston Villa.”
Unai Emery at risk if Aston Villa continue to falter
Football Insider verdict
The good news for Emery heading into the international break is that his team are only three games into a 38 game season and have plenty of time to put their poor start back on track.
The bad news is that his side are still without a goal, or a win this season, and their preseason rivals for the top six places in the Premier League are all off to hotter starts than the Villains.
| Opponents | Date |
| vs Everton (A) | Saturday, September 13 |
| vs Sunderland (A) | Sunday, September 21 |
| vs Bologna (H) | Thursday, September 25 |
| vs Fulham (H) | Saturday, September 25 |
| vs Feyenoord (A) | Thursday, October 2 |
Emery’s track record at Villa Park is good enough to buy him some time to turn the tide but given the investment in the squad, Villa’s ownership will be demanding swift change after the international break.
With increasing PSR worries, the club can’t afford to spend next season out of Europe, and neither can their star players, so as the pressure mounts of Emery after their poor start, the Spaniard will surely know what’s at stake if their poor run goes on.